Folding bed



C. 5. NULL FOLDING BED Feb. 17, 1953 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed April 12,1950 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS- Patented Feb. I 1 7, 953

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING BED Clement R. Null, Olney, IllaApplication April 12, 1950, Serial No. 155,539

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a folding bed construction. I

By way of background, it may be noted that folding beds as heretoforeconstructed generally fold in such a manner as to require their beingstripped of bedcovers before being folded away. Subsequently, onunfolding of the bed or exten sion thereof to operative position, thebed must be made up once more.

This is obviously undesirable, and the main object of the presentinvention, accordingly, is

to .provide a folding bed construction so designed as to permit thefolding away of the bed without the necessity of stripping the bed ofcovers, so that the bed can be folded away fully made up, ready for usemerely upon the pulling of the bed from its recessed or folded position.

Another important object is to provide a folding bed construction whichis in eifect a combination clothes closet or wardrobe and folding bed,

that can be installed in any room and which, when so installed, willoccupy a minimum of space, and will yet provide a bed and ample clotheshanging or storage space.

Another important object is to provide a folding bed constructionwherein the folding and the unfolding of the bed is achieved with speedand facility.

Yet another object is to provide a construction for a folding bed which,considering the appreciable benefits obtained, can be manufactured atrelatively low cost.

With the foregoin and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, hereinafter morefully describedand pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referrin to the drawings Fig. l is a front elevation-a1 view of afolding bed construction formed in accordance with the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the bedbeing shown in folded position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail perspective view of the frontend portion of the bed spring.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front carriage.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the same cutting plane as Fig. 2,the bed being shown in extended position.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the folding bed constituting thepresent invention is adapted to be recessed in a closet-like structurewhich, within the spirit of the invention, may be installed as a regularcloset during the manufacture of a structure, or which alternatively canbe a portable wardrobe for movement into any selected room.

In any event, in the present instance the closet is provided with avertically disposed rear wall] and vertical side walls 2, the upper endof the closet being closed by top Wall 3. and the front end beingprovided with thefront wall 4, having the large upper openings 5disposed in side-byside relationship and closed by the doors 6. Belowsaid doors 6, the front wall 4 is provided with the wide lower openin Iinto and out ofwhich the bed is adapted to be moved between extremepositions shown, respectively, in Figs. 2 and 5.

Extending rearwardly from the top of the opening I is the partition 8,which after being extended rearwardly a short distance, curves upwardlyand extends vertically in spaced relation to the rear wall I, beingsecured at its upper'end to the top wall 3. This partition defines alarge storage space 9 to which access is had through the doors 6 and inwhich clothes can be hung upon a bar [0.

Secured to the opposite side walls 2 of the structure, and spaced asuitable distance below the top edge of the opening 1, are the tracks llwhich may be of angle iron or similar material, these extendingrearwardly from the frontnf'tlie closet and being curved upwardly asreadily'se'n in Figs. 2 and 5. These tracks are secured rigidly to theside walls 2 by fastening elements l2. At their rear or inner ends' 'thetracks merge into the vertical rear wall lof the closetwhich in effectis thus constituted as a slideway receiving the rear portion of thefolded bed after said rear portion is moved upwardly past the trackway Il.

The bed proper includes a mattress l3 of the well known foldableconstruction, this being supported upon a bed spring of articulatedconstruction. The front end of the bed spring I4 is of approximateU-shape, being extended rearwardly for connection to a medial sectionIS, the front end l4 and intermediate section I5 being vpivotallyconnected by hinge pins l6. Any number of intermediate sections 15 areutilized, each being pivotally connected to the next preceding sectionas readily seen in Figs. 2 and 5. In this way, a longitudinallyarticulated bed spring is provided, the rearmost hinge section l5 beingpivotally connected to a U-shaped rear end section I! of the samegeneral formation as the front .braces 23 of the front carriage 2E3. 21can be pulled out for access to its contents recessat the same time. i I"f'causes'the bed to be extended to a point where it' will bedesirableto initiate movement of the rear endcarriageout of the closet.This can be end section I4. The front and rear end sections andintermediate sections are each provided with spaced paralleltransversely extending spring members I8 on which the mattress is firmlysupported, said members I8 being rigidly connected at their ends to theside portions of the sections of which they are a part.

The rear end of the mattress H3 is attached to the rearend section I! bya hold-down strap H), which prevents the mattress from falling off thespring when the bed is folded as in Fig. 2.

I provide a pair of reliable carriages on which the bed is supportedwhen it is pulled to extended position. A front carriage 29 includes atop plate (see Fig. 4) integral or otherwise made rigid with dependingcorner legs 2] each of which is provided with a roller wheel 22.Parallel longitudinal side braces 23 connect the front and rear legs andalso serve as a slideway for a ,drawerin a manner to be made apparent.

.Thefront end of the front carriage is provided with the outturned ears24 apertured for "passage of connecting elements that extend into adrawer front 25 provided with the pulls 26.-

Mounted in the lower portion of the drawer front is the smaller drawerfront 21 attached to a storage drawer that slides upon the longitudinalThis drawer when the bed is in folded position.

The front end of the bed spring is connected to the drawer front by arelatively loose pivotal connection (see Fig. 3), the drawer front 25having sleeve brackets 28 into which extend the U- shaped pins 29 thatare pivoted in the front end of the. front end section M.

A rear carriage 3c is also provided, this being The The telescopedcarriages move into a space defined below the tracks ll, as readily seenfrom Fig. 2.

7 Assuming that the bed is in the folded position of Fig. 2 and is to beextended, the user simply pulls outwardly upon the drawer front 25 bymeans of the drawer pulls 26. This causes ,the front carriage to bepulled out of the rear .carriage 30, and the bed is also pulled out ofits Continued outward pull done manually simply by pulling the rear endcarriage-out of the closet a slight distance to 'cause the bed to besupported thereupon, after which further pull upon the bed will pull therear carriage outwardly. Or, I believe it is well within the spirit ofthe invention and sufficiently obvious as not to require specialillustration that a flexible link can be provided between the front andrear carriages, which will act to pull the rear fcarriage after thefront one after the front one 4 has been pulled a predetermined distanceaway from the rear carriage.

To return the bed to recessed position, one simply presses to the rightin Fig. 5 upon the drawer front 25. The bed spring moves up the trackwayl I, while the rear carriage moves to recessed position below saidtrackway. Continued further pressure causes the bed spring to travelaround the curve of thetrackway this being permitted by reason of thearticulated construction of the spring. Still further pressure causesthe front carriage to telescope within the rear carriage and the bed tobe recessed fully within the closet.

The closet is of course always available for storage in the space 9without reference to the withdrawal or recessing of the bed.

What is claimed is:

In a folding bed of the type which includes an elongated rectangularcabinet having front, side and rear walls and a vertical partitionbetween the front and rear walls separating the interior of the cabinetinto a storage space and a bed receiving compartment, the front wallhaving an opening extending therethrough below the storage space whichopening communicates with the compartment, an articulated bed springmounted in said compartment to move horizontally through the opening inthe front wall, and a drawer front carried by the bed spring and adaptedto close the opening in the front wall when the bed-spring is containedin the compartment, means to support said bed spring in a horizontalposition when it is projected from the compartment and through theopening in the front Wall comprising a carriage connected to the drawerfront and extending beneath and engaged by the bed spring adjacent thedrawer front, and a second carriage of greater width than the firstmentioned carriage adapted to be engaged by and extended outwardly fromthe cabinet beneath the bed spring adjacent the end thereof remote fromthe drawer front, the said carriages being movable into the cabinetbeneath the storage space and the compartment and the carriage adjacentthe drawer front telescoping into the opposite carriage when the drawerfront closes the open- CLEMENT R. NULL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

